{"id":495701,"date":"2026-06-16T14:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/495701\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:44:09","slug":"iran-coach-says-team-oppressed-by-travel-chaos-after-world-cup-nz-draw-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/495701\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran coach says team \u2018oppressed\u2019 by travel chaos after World Cup NZ draw | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

Amir Ghalenoei made the comment after Iran were forced to leave the US for their Mexico base after their opening match.<\/p>\n

Published On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Monday that his team were being \u201coppressed\u201d due to \u2060last-minute travel changes stemming \u2060from tensions between Iran and the United States, adding the disruption had affected their performance after a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The Iranian football federation had negotiated a late \u2060move of the team\u2019s base camp from Arizona in the US to Tijuana, Mexico amid uncertainty over US visas and a growing sense that the squad\u2019s presence in the US should be kept to a minimum, \u2060Iran\u2019s ambassador to Mexico has told Reuters.<\/p>\n

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Ghalenoei, 62, said they had suffered further disruption, with Iran expecting to remain in Los Angeles overnight on Monday but instead being required to return immediately to Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime, but they haven\u2019t permitted us,\u201d Ghalenoei said. \u201cTo be honest, \u200cI have no idea why. I think perhaps our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not say who had imposed the restriction.<\/p>\n

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"Iran'sIran\u2019s Mehdi Taremi, left, dribbles the ball against New Zealand\u2019s Finn Surman during the World Cup Group G match in Inglewood, California, near Los Angeles in the United States on June 15, 2026 [Andre Penner\/AP]\u2018FIFA have to help us\u2019<\/p>\n

The run-up to the match had been one of drama away from the pitch, with the team playing on US soil barely 24 hours after a peace deal was announced to end \u2060the war that began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on \u2060February 28.<\/p>\n

Iran forward Mehdi Taremi said the restrictions were preventing his team from playing their best at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not good for us. I think it\u2019s not good for football,\u201d he said. \u201cI think FIFA have to help us more than this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taremi described a rushed \u2060atmosphere on Sunday, with travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles, then to their hotel and finally to the stadium to see the pitch. They \u2060should have had two days to settle in to LA, he \u2060added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so bad and it affects our team and we just want peace,\u201d said Taremi, adding that FIFA President Gianni Infantino had visited Iran\u2019s changing room on Monday.<\/p>\n

Coach Ghalenoei also highlighted the absence of key backroom staff, with some officials and \u200cmedia unable to travel due to visa restrictions, leaving coaches to take on additional responsibilities on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur management team, many of them aren\u2019t here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to deal with those roles ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite \u200cthe \u200cdisruption, Ghalenoei praised his players for their resilience in earning a draw, though he said the travel demands had taken a toll with several players suffering muscle cramps, which he linked to fatigue from the extra travel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amir Ghalenoei made the comment after Iran were forced to leave the US for their Mexico base after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4118,42,43,2224,40,38,41,39,1032,1156,101640],"class_list":["post-495701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-football","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}